Nanaimo Bastion

Scope and Content: View of The Bastion, also known as the Nanaimo Bastion, an historic octagonal shaped bastion or fortification located at 98 Front Street in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. The Hudson's Bay Company, which then held a royal lease on all of what was then the Colony of Vancouver Island, built it bet…

History Biographical: Arthur "Pop" Harwood came to Waterton Lakes National Park circa 1914 where he was employed in a variety of jobs before becoming the postmaster, a position he held until the 1950s. He had one son, Stephen, who was an avid photographer and outdoorsman who became a mechanic with the park, married and raised one son, Marvin. See fond description for more detail.

Scope and Content: View of The Bastion, also known as the Nanaimo Bastion, an historic octagonal shaped bastion or fortification located at 98 Front Street in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. The Hudson's Bay Company, which then held a royal lease on all of what was then the Colony of Vancouver Island, built it between 1853 and 1855 to defend its coal mining operations in Nanaimo. Square logs were used for the walls of the three-storey building whose third floor extends out over the lower floors. It has been called "Nanaimo's premier landmark", because of its shape and its "high visibility from both land and sea." In 1891 and again in 1979 it was moved a short distance for historic preservation purposes.